Alabama voter turnout rate for presidential election 58.5%, lowest in over 30 years

Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen Wednesday said 58.5% of registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s presidential election, the lowest turnout for any state presidential election since 1988.

In a statement, Allen said 2.263 million Alabamians cast ballots on Tuesday, not counting provisional ballots. That was just over 65,000 fewer ballots than were cast in 2020, when 2.3 million voters participated in the election.

“Yesterday’s election was administered with election security as the primary goal,” Allen said in the statement. “I am proud to say that, because of our dedicated local election officials, that goal was achieved.”

Alabama has some of the lowest voter participation rates in the nation, due in part to a lack of early voting options and a lack of competitive races in the state. Republicans dominate federal and state offices and Democrats have made little headway in challenging them. Shomari Figures, who won election Tuesday in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, represented the only pick-up for party in the election.

The state’s highest participation race in a presidential election took place in 1992, when 76% of eligible voters cast ballot. In 2020, about 63% of registered Alabama voters participated.